Old man winter enters

Quick storm causes accidents, power outage

November 13, 2012

HOUGHTON - The first significant lake-effect snowfall of the season hit the Keweenaw Peninsula Monday, and it resulted in several traffic accidents but no injuries.

Keith Cooley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Negaunee Township office, said the snow was actually the result of a warm-weather system which brought rain to parts of the western Upper Peninsula.

"We had some wrap-around flow pulling the colder temperatures across (Lake Superior)," he said.

Article Photos

Ashley Curtis/Daily Mining GazetteClyde Miller from Swift’s True Value shovels snow along the sidewalk in downtown Houghton this morning after the first big snowfall of the season.

Although he had only a few reports, Cooley said snow amounts ranged from 5 1/2 inches in Winona, 5 inches in Pelkie and 3 1/2 inches in Calumet and South Range.

Wind gusts of slightly more than 30 mph were reported at Houghton County Memorial Airport during the storm, Cooley said.

Jodi Pineau, customer operations supervisor with the Upper Peninsula Power Company Ishpeming office, said power was lost to about 1,000 customers in Hancock at 5 p.m. after a car struck a utility pole. The outage was relatively short, however.

"We got everybody but about 90 customers back on at 6:20 p.m.," she said.

By 8:30 p.m., the utility pole was repaired and power was restored to all customers, Pineau said.

Lt. Randy Mayra of the Hancock Police Department said slick road conditions caused a car to run into the pole on West Quincy Street near the Memorial Chapel. There were no injuries from the accident.

The Hancock Police Department dealt with several accidents resulting from the storm between 4:30 and 6 p.m., but no injury accidents, Mayra said.

The sheriff departments in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon counties this morning reported either just a few property damage traffic accidents with no injuries or no traffic accidents.

There was a head-on traffic accident in Ripley, but the Houghton County Sheriff's Office reported there were no injuries resulting from the accident.

Cooley said most of the snowfall was in the Keweenaw Peninsula, with amounts of about 2 to 3 inches in several parts of the eastern U.P. Today should be calm but cloudy with temperatures in the mid-30s.

"Most of the snow over the Keweenaw has tapered off," he said. "The lake-effect system is winding down here."

Wednesday temperatures should warm to the low 40s, Cooley said, with the possibility of light snow but no accumulation.

The rest of the week looks calm, also, Cooley said.

"There's not a lot moving into the area," he said. "Friday is expected to be dry."